Micah P. Hinson

Singer/songwriter Micah P. Hinson was born in Memphis, Tennessee into a strict fundamentalist Christian household. He began to experiment with music -- as well as narcotics -- upon moving to Abilene, Texas in his teens. Despite serving jail time, fighting addiction, and declaring bankruptcy -- all before the age of 20 -- Hinson became immersed in the local music scene. His debut was recorded in the winter of 2003 with assistance from Texas chamber pop collective the Earlies, who provided a lush backdrop for Hinson's winsome tales of love, loss, and regret. Micah P. Hinson & the Gospel of Progress was released on Sketchbook Records in April of 2005. It was followed in 2006 by Baby & the Satellite, his first effort for Jade Tree. Hinson kept busy that year, also issuing the debut EP Lights from the Wheelhouse from his more experimental project, the Late Cord, and another album for Jade Tree, Micah P. Hinson & the Opera Circuit, that fall. For 2008's Micah P. Hinson & the Red Empire Orchestra and 2009's all-covers album All Dressed Up & Smelling of Strangers, he switched to the U.K. label Full Time Hobby. Micah P. Hinson & the Pioneer Saboteurs, his fourth album of original material, arrived the following year. In 2011, Hinson was involved in a near-fatal car crash and spent his recovery time listening to some of the demo recordings he'd made before the incident, which went on to affect subsequent recording sessions. The material eventually culminated in the Micah P. Hinson & the Nothing album. The record was the darkest and most intensely personal collection of songs from Hinson thus far, and garnered widespread critical acclaim. He followed with the 2015 collaborative effort Broken Arrows (written and recorded with close friend and longtime collaborator Nicholas T. Phelps) and the 2017 record, Presents the Holy Strangers. ~ James Christopher Monger & Rob Wacey

Despite being involved in so many projects -- which include the expansive psych pop of the Earlies, the Americana-tronica of the Late Cord, and his work under his own name -- Micah P. Hinson crafts a distinctive sound for each of his musical outlets. Hinson's solo work is rootsier and a little more straightforwardly singer/songwriter than that of the Earlies or the Late Cord, but only just. Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit, his second Jade Tree release of 2006, spans ballads that blossom into guitar epics ("You're Only Lonely"), drunken waltzes ("It's Been So Long"), and lonesome, late-night songs ("Drift Off to Sleep") that are held together by Hinson's ancient-sounding voice, which seems to hold within it an entire dust bowl of yearning and a whole lifetime of experiences. His vocals lend themselves especially well to his ballads, giving a sepia-toned warmth to "Seems Almost Impossible," "Little Boy's Dream," which also showcases the beautiful string arrangements throughout the album, and "She Don't Own Me," a song that sounds so timeless that it's easy to mistake it for a cover of some long-forgotten tune. However, Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit is far from bleak. There's a black-hearted gypsy glee to "Diggin' a Grave," which features sardonic lyrics like "I'm hopin' the sun will never come up/And there'll be no compromise again," while the brass that peppers "Jackeyed" and "Letter to Huntsville" helps make those songs downright cheery. A quietly compelling album, this will please not only fans of Hinson's other solo work, but those who were introduced to him through the Earlies and the Late Cord as well. ~ Heather Phares